The Cheeselands at the Transvaal World Cup IV
The Cheeselands (URC / CHL) was the winner of the 2010 Transvaal World Cup IV. The nation officially announced it's intention to participate on January 16, 2010. The tournament officially started on March 1, with qualifying rounds taking place during the previous week to eliminate 2 entrants. Due to it's status of playing in previous years the Cheeselandic National Team did not have to participate in the qualifying rounds and thus played it's first game at the start of the main tournament on March 1. The 2010 Transvaal World Cup was the third Transvaal hosted World Cup the Cheeselands participated in. Pre-Tournament Match-up The Cheeselands has been matched in Pool 'B' which will take place in Windhoek. The other nations in Pool 'B' were announced as Adeptes Mechanicus, Debate Land, Disparu, Jutopia Land, Kevodia, Nos Tre Rebublic, and Viniland. Pre-Tournament Predictions The weakest of the four pools, Pool B will be dominated by The Cheeselands. Traditionally a middle of the pack nation, they have progressively improved and over-achieved each year. This year should be no different and now facing four of the eight pre-tournament qualifiers, The Cheeselands should be able to cruise to first place. They will face some challenges from Viniland and Kevodia for the tope spot while Jutopia Land will probably lock up 4th place, leaving the four qualifiers from Debate Land, Disparu, Nos Tre Rebublic, and Adeptes Mechanicus to scrap it out for consolation placement. Pool 'B' stats For the beginning of the tournament, the Cheeselands was selected to participate in Pool 'B'. The final stats for pool 'B' after the end of the preliminaries are below. The Cheeselands finished in second place of the pool. Tournament Timeline Preliminary Round Adeptes Mechanicus vs The Cheeselands ---- The Cheeselands vs Disparu ---- Kevoida vs The Cheeselands ---- The Cheeselands vs Jutopia Land ---- Viniland vs The Cheeselands ---- The Cheeselands vs Nos Tre Rebublic ---- The Cheeselands vs Debate Land Championship Playoffs: The Cheeselands vs Deutschland ;Game Statistics *Shots: CHL 6; DEU 4 *Shots on target: CHL 3; DEU 3 *Tackles: CHL 10; DEU 15 *Fouls: CHL 0; DEU 0 *Bookings: CHL 0; DEU 0 *Corners: CHL 1; DEU 1 *Offsides: CHL 0; DEU 0 *Passing: CHL 90%; DEU 90% *Possession: CHL 59%; DEU 41% ;Goal Summary *CHL Emmental (MF) 39 *CHL Gruyère (F) 44 *DEU Roy Makaay (F) 90 Quarter-Finals: Cataduanes vs The Cheeselands ;Game Statistics *Shots: CHL 6; CAT 6 *Shots on target: CHL 5; CAT 3 *Tackles: CHL 16; CAT 20 *Fouls: CHL 1; CAT 0 *Bookings: CHL 0; CAT 0 *Corners: CHL 0; CAT 3 *Offsides: CHL 1; CAT 0 *Passing: CHL 92%; CAT 95% *Possession: CHL 49%; CAT 51% ;Goal Summary *CAT Arnold Åbom (F) 45 *CAT Eduardo Begoña (D) 51 *CHL Rochefort (MF) 63 *CHL Gruyère (F) 85 *CAT Arnold Åbom (F) 93 *CHL Gruyère (F) 115 ;Penalty-Kick Shootout *CHL (4) 1-1-1-1-X *CAT (2) 1-1-0-0-X *winning goal (MF) Provolone Semi-Finals: The Cheeselands vs Tahoe against Kasey Keller of Tahoe]] attack]] ;Game Statistics *Shots: CHL 10; TAH 5 *Shots on target: CHL 7; TAH 1 *Tackles: CHL 21; TAH 18 *Fouls: CHL 0; TAH 0 *Bookings: CHL 0; TAH 0 *Corners: CHL 1; TAH 0 *Offsides: CHL 0; TAH 0 *Passing: CHL 90%; TAH 95% *Possession: CHL 51%; TAH 49% ;Goal Summary *CHL Gruyère (F) 24 *TAH James McCarthy (F) 84 *CHL Gruyère (F) 113 *CHL Gorgonzola (MF) 120 Championship Final: Articuno Islands vs The Cheeselands ;First Half Statistics *Shots: CHL 2; ART 0 *Shots on target: CHL 2; ART 0 *Tackles: CHL 5; ART 4 *Fouls: CHL 0; ART 0 *Bookings: CHL 0; ART 0 *Corners: CHL 0; ART 1 *Offsides: CHL 0; ART 0 *Passing: CHL 87%; ART 88% *Possession: CHL 49%’; ART 51% ;At End of Regulation *Shots: CHL 5; ART 1 *Shots on target: CHL 2; ART 1 *Tackles: CHL 13; ART 14 *Fouls: CHL 0; ART 1 *Bookings: CHL 0; ART 1 *Corners: CHL 1; ART 1 *Offsides: CHL 0; ART 0 *Passing: CHL 87%; ART 92% *Possession: CHL 56%; ART 44% ;Final Match Statistics *Shots: CHL 8; ART 3 *Shots on target: CHL 3; ART 2 *Tackles: CHL 20; ART 20 *Fouls: CHL 0; ART 2 *Bookings: CHL 0; ART 2 *Corners: CHL 2; ART 3 *Offsides: CHL 1; ART 0 *Passing: CHL 88%; ART 91% *Possession: CHL 55%; ART 45% ;Goal Summary *CHL Gruyère (F) *ART Ewerthon (F) 70 *CHL Gruyère (F) 101 *ART Jan Koller (F) 120 ;Penalty-Kick Shootout *CHL (4) 1-1-1-0-1 *ART (2) 0-0-1-1-X *winning goal (MF) Wensleydale Game Notes Unlike the earlier sleeper played in Gaborone, the Championship Final was simply an incredible ending to the tournament. The match could not have been scripted better, complete with controversy, drama, and excitement. Observers are calling it the greatest match ever seen played at the Transvaal World Cup. The Cheeselands got on the scoreboard very early, while many fans were still in the process of taking their seats, when Gruyère was fed the ball off the opening kick-off and found an opening through two defenders to catch the Articuno keeper Guillaume Warmuz flatfooted. The Cheeselands maintained control of the game for the next half hour or so but then momentum began to slowly shift in Articuno’s favour. The Islanders were obviously fired up from their halftime pep talk as they came out hard against the Cheesemen. Eventually their hard work paid off when Ewerthon belted the ball past Cheeselandic keeper Limburg to tie up the match in the 70th minute. However once back in the game, Articuno began to stall and momentum shifted back to The Cheeselands. However neither side could find any mistakes to capitalise on – and to the surprise of no one, extra time was required. At the 101th minute, it looked like Articuno Islands were handing the championship over on a plate when Evanílson Ferreira tripped up Emmental in the penalty box as he was moving in for the kill. The dangerous tackle gave Emmental a penalty shot from which he scored - and saw Evanílson thrown out of the game. Now down by both a goal and a man, the shorthanded Articuno Islanders continued to persevere against all adversity. In the dying second of extra time, The Cheeselands coughed up a late cornerkick – and against all odds and beating the clock, Jan Koller beat Limburg for the ball and scored to force the game into a shootout. Many fans felt that with the obstacle of playing shorthanded now past, that Arcticuno Islands would somehow strike good luck a second time – but that was not meant to be as The Cheeselands handily made swiss cheese out of Warmuz to win the shootout 4 goals to 2 and win Transvaal World Cup IV. Regardless the outcome, fans felt this was the best match of the tournament – a fitting finale – and perhaps the greatest seen in the four years of the tournament. Once the initial player celebrations had quieted down on the pitch, both teams assembled at the centre line as Staatspresident Botha and Deputy Prime Minister Hendrik Strijdom made their appearance to award the Breytenbach Memorial Trophy – symbolic of the Transvaal Cup championship – to Gruyère, the captain of The Cheeselands team. External Links *Results and Standings Category:The Cheeselands